northern lights

Thursday, 31 July 2014

Who does'nt have any fear. Every one has experienced fear at some time in his/her life. When a child is small, it is the parents ,who are responsible for inculcating some or the other fear in the child's mind. Just sample this. The mother tells the child," Don't go to that room alone at night. There are ghosts there". "Drink your milk or the 'baba' will put you in his bag." or"Don;t go out alone at night, a snake may bite you". The result is that a fear complex overtakes us right from childhood. A very common fear which almost everyone has experienced is addressing a group of people.I too had this fear right from childhood. I remember when guests came home, my father would invariably ask me to sing a song. Immediately the fear complex would over power me. Those days parents were not very receptive. I remember that on this account, I got beatings from my parents. The result was that the fear, which developed in childhood, continued till I grew up. I joined the Education Department as a teacher. Within six years I was promoted as the Principal of a school. Teaching a class was not a problem; the same students I had to face every day. As Principal, I had to address the assembly. The very thought gave me goose bumps. In the beginning I used to write on a piece of paper, whatever I had to speak. Slowly I discarded the paper and started addressing the assembly impromptu. After I was promoted to higher positions, I could address even an audience of thousand people extempore. It became a second nature with me. I have got another fear complex. I cannot say 'no' to anyone. I have a feeling that if I refuse to comply or do something against the request/order of others, they will break friendship with me. I am now slowly trying to overcome this habit. I hope I will succeed in giving up the practice very soon.I promise to myself that I will make all efforts to make my self courageous and self confident.Written in response to Everyday Gyan, Write Tribe Carnival 'what would I do if I was'nt afraid'.

By will power and patience,I could complete the challenge in time. I did not miss even one day.I have replied to all my friends, who took the trouble to comment on my post. I have made some new friends. I am grateful to everyone of you !!! I wonder what I will do from tomorrow. I convey my special thanks to Madam Corrine and Madam Vidya Suri for organising this challenge.I am grateful to friends who helped me when I consulted them. Bye to everyone. Hope to meet in the next challenge.

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Two lions in a zoo were very friendly. One of them was caught from a forest, where he was born. The other one was a city lion, born in the zoo it self. They were very friendly. One day they decided to run away from the zoo. ( after all who likes to be in bondage). The jungle tiger ran into a jungle and the city tiger disappeared into the city. The authorities ordered a thorough search. The forest lion was caught the next day and brought back to the zoo. In spite of a wide search the city lion could not be captured. Six months went by , but still he was not caught. He was caught after eight months and brought back to the zoo. His friend was curious to know where was he hiding and how he could not be traced for so long. More over, he had become very healthy.The jungle lion asked him,"Arre yaar, where were you for so long?" The city lion said,"I was hiding behind old files in a huge Government Department."The jungle lion was amazed and said,"What were you eating all these days?"The city lion replied," I was eating one man every day. No body noticed. Instead they appointed another one"The jungle lion," But then how did they trace you?"The city lion," Arre yaar, galti ho gayi. One day I ate the Chai wallah. When no tea was served, the whole office stopped working. A thorough search was made and I was noticed and captured."

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

The title of the post may give a wrong notion to some. They may presume that I am comparing my DIL with my daughter. No it is not so. Even though by law, customs and traditions, she may be a DIL but in reality there is no difference between my daughter and DIL.
Today in a reminiscent mood I recollect when and how I first saw her. (Most of my friends know that I am a Punjabi, married to a Keralite) It was the year 1986, when my MIL passed away and we had gone to Kerala. While we were there, my hubby's long lost friend came with his daughter to condole the passing away of his friend's mother. His daughter, sat by my side. We introduced ourselves and exchanged pleasantries. This girl left a mark on my mind. On our way back to Delhi, I asked my hubby about his opinion about our son getting married to this girl. My husband did not respond, but just smiled. After four months, we got a letter from my husband's brother in law, with a praposal for marriage for our son with the same girl. It goes without saying that, Deepak, our son, liked Kavita. The marriage took place at Guruvayur Temple in Kerala.
It was the first time that I witnessed a Kerala wedding. It is a very simple affair, as compared to a North Indian marriage. In fact, the actual ceremony does not take more than five minutes. An interesting incident took place during the ceremony. Immediately after the marriage, the priest told Deepak,"Tholu", which means "Pray" in Malyalam. Deepak does not have any knowledge of the language. He did not follow what the priest said and looked blank. Kavita whispered in his ears to pray and saved him from embarrassment.
After we came back to Delhi, Kavita adapted very well to North Indian food, habits, customs and the atmosphere of the house. In fact she is the focal point of the house., and manages the affairs of the house and her job very efficiently. She has introduced Kerala fesivals, Onam, Vishu and many customs in the household. She has adopted Karva Chauth fast, and many other practices very naturally. She is working as Principal of a reputed Sr. Sec. School.
Her two daughters also have been brought up very lovingly and efficiently. They speak very fluent Malyalam, Hindi and English. She is a daughter of the family. In our old age Kavita gives us lot of moral support and love. More over she is very friendly with her sister in law and treats her like a real sister. Deepak and Kavita got married in 1988, and completed their 25th anniversary last year. We are proud of them.. Our blessings are always with all our children.

actors. We play our part and move away. Similarly we can say that life is like a train journey. Like passengers, we get into the train. Our parents are already there. They welcome us. We meet many people.We are impressed by

some and are instantly drawn towards them.There are some others

who we ignore. There are many,who we find roaming on

the platform. We do not know them, but feel some sort ofaffinity towards them. We also come in touch with several peoplethrough our writings. Is it not strange that we feel a mutual liking for some but do not pay any heed to many others.! Atdifferent stations many people get down and many new ones enter. Our children also enter at some point. We make several friends in the course of the journey, but many of them leave us, There are others who travel a longdistance with us and build a permanent relation with us.We even discuss about our family matters with them. Enroute we will feel joy, sorrow, hellos, good byes and farewells. In the train of life we do not know when and where we will have to get down. So we must maintain good relations with every body.When we leave our seat, we must

ensure the not only the seat, but also the surrounding area is left neat and tidy. If we are good natured and kind,people will remember us long after we leave our seat. We must

leave our imprint of love, goodness, integrity, good behaviour

and good values behind, which are the only things in life we will be remembered for.Written for Write Tribe Ultimate Blog Challenge Day 29th

Yesterday I wrote about my dear son. Today I am writing about my darling daughter. She looked like a doll when she was small, so we nick named her 'gudiya'.Today, when she is married and is a mother of two, my husband refuses to call her by her name. She is still a 'gudiya' for him.
This gudiya was born four years after our son, Deepak was born. With the birth of a baby girl, our family was complete. She was a shy girl right from childhood. She was also admitted in the same nursery school, where her brother was sent, but she, unlike her brother,who was a leader of the class, was friendly only with a girl ,who was our immediate neighbour. I remember she used to suck her thumb all the time. Even though, she looked cute, but by constant sucking, the thumb became very thin and bruises appeared on it. I stitched a beautiful mitten, with colourful embroidery on it. I gave to her saying that it was a special gift for her. She put on the mitten and proudly showed it to every one. The thumb sucking was forgotten.
In the evenings we used to sit in the living room and read . Deepak did his home work and myself and my husband also read something or the other. This little one was not interested in her dolls or other toys and wanted to read. She would go to us one by one saying 'ek gup bus'. She was unable to pronounce the word 'book' and called it 'gup'. Till now we sometimes tease her .
It was time to send her to a regular school. An interview letter came from Convent of Jesus and Mary.I took her for the interview, but she did not even open her mouth. CJM was my Alma Mater. I chatted with the Principal. My little princess, Jyotsna, got admission. She studied in that school up to Sr. Sec. class.She passed with flying colors, obtaining 94% marks. Her first preference was to be a Doctor, failing which she wanted to study Eco. Hons. in St. Stephans College. She got an interview letter from the college and roll no. for medical entrance test, for the same date. She attended the interview and also wrote the medical entrance. She got admission in both. She preferred the medical course. Jyotsna obtained a very good position in MBBS, with distinction in three subjects.We agreed to her desire to do M.D. As good luck would have it ,exactly five months after Deepak's marriage, she got married to a highly qualified boy, Doctor Suri, a gem of a boy. She completed her M.D. later on. Both of them are happily married. They look after our medical needs in our old age.
They have two boys,both very brilliant. The elder one is a Doctor and is doing MD from AAIMS. The younger one is doing Eco. Hons final year from Delhi University.
Jyotsna and Dr. Suri completed twenty five years of married life this year. My only prayer to God is they always remain happy and healthy, and lead a prosperous life.